In compliance with the directions of the Akal Takht, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has handed over the record sought by the special investigation team (SIT) probing the disappearance of 328 ‘saroops’ of Guru Granth Sahib. Meanwhile, the SIT said that the record was incomplete.
SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami confirmed that the record sought by the SIT had been provided and assured that “any additional cooperation requested by the SIT in the future will also be extended”.
“But looking at the sensitivity of the situation concerning Sikh sentiments, Akal Takht too had directed that no allegations and politicisation of the issue be made,” he said.
The SIT members reached the sub-office of the SGPC in Chandigarh and took over the documents pertaining to the ‘saroops’ published and dispatched from the SGPC’s publication department in the presence of the SGPC president. Gaps in the record pertaining to 2013-15 had surfaced in 2020.
A member of the SIT said that the main focus was to get the record of the ‘saroops’ since 2008 when the process of publication, responsibility of allotment and numbering the holy scripture was entrusted to the SGPC under the Jagat Jyot Act. He said, if need be, more documents could be asked for as and when the investigation progressed.
“The record that was provided to us by the SGPC appeared to be incomplete. We have apprised SGPC officials about it and they admitted that some portion of the record could not be produced at the moment. But the SGPC president has assured us that it would be made available by next week at its Chandigarh office. We will analyse the documents that we are taking along. If we find those inadequate, we will approach the SGPC again,” he said.
A two-page request letter seeking documents about the ‘saroops’ was submitted to the SGPC on January 13.
Initially, the SGPC was reluctant to cooperate, saying this was its internal matter. As per the conclusion of the probe report of a panel constituted by the Akal Takht in 2020, disciplinary action against the “guilty” staffers and officials was already taken by the SGPC Executive by dismissing or suspending them in 2020.
Later, taking a U-turn, Akal Takht officiating Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj had directed the SGPC to cooperate with the SIT and told the SGPC president to provide the record